Savage Summer

by Constance O'Banyon

  “Are you sure?” he asked. “Don’t you want to think on it a spell longer?”

  “No, my mind is made up. We must tell him everything,” she said, sitting down on the edge of a satin-covered chair. “There has been too much unhappiness lately. It’s time to tell the truth.”

  Farley stood up and placed a cushion at Alexandria’s back. He poured her a fresh cup of tea and handed it to her, then drew up a footstool to sit beside her, as if he were her watchdog.

  Morgan watched impatiently, wondering why they were acting so strangely. “For God’s sake, will you tell me what’s the big mystery,” he ground out between clenched teeth.

  “When do you have to report to Fort Laramie?” Alexandria asked.

  “I resigned my commission a week ago. I won’t be going to Fort Laramie—why?”

  “How much do you love Skyler?” she asked point-blank. “Is your love strong enough to overcome prejudice?”

  His eyes clouded over. “I don’t really understand what you are asking me. I love her more than I ever thought to love anyone,” he admitted. “Why do you think I’m here?”

  “I wonder if you love her enough?” Alexandria asked as she studied her hands that were clasped in her lap. “Do you love her enough to accept her no matter what you hear about her?”

  “Nothing on earth could make me stop loving her. Did she tell you that I asked her to be my wife?”

  Alexandria shook her head. “No, but then Skyler keeps much of her feelings to herself.”

  “Tell me where I can find her, Alexandria,” Morgan said urgently. “I will go to her wherever she is.”

  “Do you recall the day you had just come from Washington?” she asked.

  “Yes, of course. I was going to ask Skyler to marry me that day, but something happened. I remember very clearly that she became upset. What I don’t know is why.”

  “I can tell you why, Morgan. She became upset when you were talking about the only good Indian being a dead Indian. You made the mistake that so many people make. You think just because someone doesn’t act and think as you do that they are beneath you. You don’t realize that the white race is stealing the Indian lands and when the Indian tries to protect what belongs to him, you say he is a savage.”

  Morgan was astonished by Alexandria’s emotional outbreak. He looked at the old man and found his eyes cold as ice.

  “What has all this to do with Skyler? I suppose you are telling me she doesn’t like prejudice.” He looked puzzled for a moment. “No. That couldn’t be right. She wouldn’t turn away from me just because I detest the Indians.”

  “Wouldn’t she, Morgan?” Alexandria asked. “What if I told you her name isn’t really Skyler Dancing…but Sky Dancer! Would you understand then?”

  Morgan closed his eyes, trying to digest what Alexandria was telling him. “My God,” he said in an agonized voice. “Skyler is an Indian! No wonder I hurt her that day in the summerhouse. Why didn’t someone tell me? I have been going over and over in my mind, trying to rationalize what happened. Now it all comes together.”

  “Now it ain’t ’zactly true when you say Sky Dancer’s an Indian,” Farley spoke up. “Her pa’s the chief of the Blood Blackfoot, but her ma’s white. Sky Dancer is an Indian princess. She ain’t never been near no one who looked down on her or her race before. In the Blackfoot tribe she is honored and revered.”

  Morgan stood up and walked over to the window. He had been a blind fool. Why hadn’t he seen what was right before his eyes? He turned slowly back to Alexandria. “I don’t understand any of this.”

  “It’s all very simple, Morgan. Joanna is Tag’s sister. She was once rescued by Windhawk, the chief of the Bloods. She fell in love with him and turned her back on the white world, and they were married. Sky Dancer is a child of that union.”

  He shook his head as if to clear it. “I can see how Skyler might…Dear God, I must have hurt her. She must have thought I would hate her if I found out about her father.”

  “That is exactly what she thought. She is proud of who she is, and most of all she is proud of the Blackfoot people. You hurt her more deeply than you can ever guess,” Alexandria told him. “I wonder if you love her as much as you claim to? Knowing who she is, do you still want her?”

  Alexandria watched as Morgan tried to digest all he had been told. She watched him wrestle with his conscience. “I have to go to her,” he said at last. “Tell me where I can find her. I will make this up to her, you have my word.”

  “Not until you tell me how you feel about her,” Alexandria said. “I don’t want to see her hurt again.”

  “I will never hurt her, Alexandria. I want her for my wife more than ever now. I just hope she can find it in her heart to forgive me, blundering fool that I am.”

  “Can you accept who she is and what she is?”

  “All I know is that she is the woman I love. I want her beside me for the rest of my life.”

  “Now, that might not be as easy as you be thinking it be,” Farley spoke up. “You see, Windhawk may not want his daughter to marry a white man. While you ain’t too fond of the Indians, they don’t think too highly of you neither. Like I tole you, Sky Dancer is a princess, and Windhawk might think you’re just a mite beneath her.”

  Morgan sank down on the settee and covered his eyes with his hands. “I only know I have to see her. Will you tell me how I can find her?”

  “I will do better than that,” Alexandria said. “Farley will take you to her.”

  “Now, I ain’t too sure of that,” Farley said. “Tag tole me to stay with you, Alex. ’Sides, Windhawk ain’t gonna welcome this man into the village with open arms.”

  “Don’t worry about me, Farley—I will be all right. Tag will be at the Blackfoot village to make sure no harm will come to Morgan. And you will take care of him on the way there. Do this for me, will you?”

  “When can we leave?” Morgan asked eagerly.

  “I ain’t too sure ’bout this Alex,” the old trapper said, shaking his head. “You knowed how Windhawk feels ’bout strangers.”

  Alexandria bent over and kissed the old man’s cheek. “Do this for Sky Dancer, Farley.”

  Farley nodded reluctantly. “I’ll do it, but Windhawk ain’t gonna like it any too much.”

  “Can we leave in the morning?” Morgan wanted to know, pressing for an answer.

  Farley nodded again. “I ’spect I’ll have to take you or Alex won’t let me have no peace. I don’t knowed what Tag’s gonna say, ’cause he tole me to look after Alex.”

  “Will you consent to having my sister stay with you, Alex?” Morgan asked. “I know Jenny would be delighted to look after you while Tag’s away.”

  Alexandria stood up and offered Morgan her hand. “I’ll consider it. I’m glad you love Sky Dancer, because she loves you a great deal. You are going to be in for a great experience. Farley knows the Indian Territory better than any white man alive. You will see things that will astound you. And you will meet a real legend. Sky Dancer’s father, Windhawk, is like a god to his people.”

  Morgan raised Alexandria’s hand to his lips. “Thank you—you won’t regret this.”

  Alexandria’s golden eyes gleamed brightly. “I had better not, Morgan. You had better know what you want before you stand before Windhawk, or God help you, because no one else will be able to.”

  Morgan didn’t miss the hint of warning in her voice, but he would brave any danger to find the woman he loved. He was even ready to face the legend, Windhawk, to ask for his daughter’s hand.

  Tag and Sky Dancer made good time. Her Indian training came to her aid, and she was easily able to keep up with her uncle. On and on they rode, from morning till night. They rode through rainstorms and dust-storms, with their eyes always turned toward the northwest.

  They crossed the prairies following the deeply rutted trail that had been cut by wagon wheels.

  Sometimes they would be so weary they would just throw their blankets on the ground and fa
ll asleep. The urgency of the mission pushed them almost beyond endurance, but neither of them complained. They couldn’t rest until they found out about Danielle.

  Chapter Twenty-five

  There was no earth and no sky. There was no today or tomorrow—there was only now. Wolfrunner’s hands were gentle as they moved over Danielle’s back, molding her to him so their thighs fit tightly together.

  “So soft,” he murmured against her ear. “I want to go on touching you until the end of time. I did not want this to happen to me.”

  “What?” she asked, wondering what he meant.

  “I never knew a woman could make me feel so on fire. Do you know what you have done to me, Danielle?”

  “No,” she said, wanting to hear him tell her more. His strong hands were making a circular motion across her back then slipped slowly down to rest about her waist.

  “You are as the earth mother, and I no more than the sands. You are the giver of life, and I am the seeker,” he breathed against the soft column of her throat.

  “I don’t understand,” she groaned as he moved his head and caressed her breasts with his lips.

  “I want to fill you with my love. I want to show you what it can be like between a man and a woman.” His voice came out in an agonized whisper.

  “I have never been with a man before, Wolfrunner.” Her breath came out in a gasp as he rolled her nipple around on his tongue. A slow fire had begun to smolder just below the surface, and Danielle was unprepared for the raw emotions that seemed to dance on her nerve ends. Her young body waited for his gentle, knowing instruction.

  Another flash of lightning streaked across the sky, and she looked into his dark eyes that seemed to burn into hers. His hand moved down to her soft unexplored womanhood, and he began to gently massage her.

  “I will go where no man has gone before, Danielle. Afterwards you will be changed from a girl to a woman. Do you want this?”

  As his magic hands stroked and caressed her, she groaned softly. “I want to be a woman for you, Wolfrunner. Teach me how to please you.”

  His hot breath fanned her cheek, then his mouth settled on her lips. Danielle’s hands tangled in his hair, and she yearned for something she didn’t fully understand. There was a burning hunger in her—a void that needed filling. An ache that cried out to be soothed.

  Wolfrunner lifted her hips and moved to her soft opening. “The first time there is pain, Danielle. I will not hurt you more than I can help. Hold on to me.”

  Danielle gripped Wolfrunner’s shoulders, not knowing what was to come. His words seemed to echo in her head. She felt the warmth of his manhood move slightly into her body. There was slight pain as he slid slowly forward, but it was nothing compared to the hot, white, searing flame that sent the blood rushing through her body. When he was buried inside her, he gripped her waist and moved his hips forward—slowly, ever so slowly, he reached deeper inside her.

  Wolfrunner could feel the barrier that proclaimed her maidenhood. Deep inside he knew he should stop before it was too late. Had he the right to take her innocence from her? His will and his resistance were as nothing as her soft lips opened beneath his insistent mouth.

  The rain continued to fall heavily to earth, but neither of the lovers was aware of it. They were in a world that had been created just for the two of them. The electricity in the air came from their raw emotions that had been stripped bare.

  Wolfrunner tasted the rain water on Danielle’s lips, and it seemed to heighten his pleasure. His whole body seemed consumed by a fire that raged inside him. He had never been with a woman who made his blood run hot in his veins.

  Danielle was riddled with new and pleasurable feelings. It was as if when Wolfrunner entered her body he had filled a void. She was his completely, and she knew she would never be the same after tonight. As he mastered her body, he also mastered her heart.

  After the storm of feelings had moved over the two lovers, it left them strangely at peace. Wolfrunner held Danielle to him, feeling as if she belonged to him.

  “After tonight I must never touch you again. You are too far above me, and it would be like reaching for the moon. I stole a little happiness tonight, but I cannot hold on to it, Danielle. You must soon go back to the white man’s land. I will live in a world without you.”

  “I want to stay with you forever, Wolfrunner. Will you make me your wife? I know your father, Gray Fox, has two wives. I would never allow you to take another wife.”

  His eyes seemed to burn. If he had this woman for his wife, he would never want another. But he could never have Danielle. Now he had to convince her that they could never be together as husband and wife.

  “It is true that my father has two wives. I will never have even one.” He watched the pain in her beautiful eyes, and felt the intensity of it in his heart.

  He rose to his feet, carrying her to a standing position. The storm had moved out of the mountains, leaving a bright moonlit night. Cupping her face in his hands, he stared into her blue eyes.

  “From this day forward, you are the wife of my heart, but I cannot approach your father and ask for you. You must understand what it is to be a Blackfoot princess; you can marry only a chief worthy of you. Know in your heart that no other woman will ever touch me as deeply as you have. But I can never have you for my wife. Windhawk would never permit it, even if your father were to agree.”

  Danielle’s eyes sparkled with tears as he kissed the tip of her pert little nose. He was aware that he was the first man to ever love her, and that was the reason she thought she loved him. When they returned to the village Danielle would feel differently about him. She would remember that he was what she called a savage. Wolfrunner wanted to fight to hold on to her, but he knew he would have to let her go.

  “Are you just saying this because you don’t want me?” It occurred to Danielle that Wolfrunner hadn’t said anything about loving her. He talked of pleasure of the body, but he did not say he felt about her as she felt for him. She felt as if he were merely using the fact that she was a princess to be free of her. He had gotten what he wanted from her—now he wanted nothing more to do with her.

  Wolfrunner’s dark eyes settled on her face and she could see the pain written there. “I want you more than I have ever wanted anything in my life. I would die for you, but I cannot live for you. I didn’t want to love you, but you drew me into your life. I thought you were spoiled and unfeeling, but I found out I was wrong. You are all that is good in the world, Danielle.”

  She became saddened and hurt, knowing he was pushing her out of his life. “I was both spoiled and unfeeling, Wolfrunner, but you helped me change. I have many things to learn. Will you not help me?”

  “I have always walked alone. I have lived for twenty-seven summers, and before now never wanted to take a woman as wife. I will live the rest of my life alone, but I will keep the memory of this night to warm me through the years.”

  “If you love me, tell me. Can you not say the words? If you did love me, it wouldn’t matter who I was or who you are. Look at Windhawk and Joanna. They are shining examples of two people reaching across different worlds to find happiness.”

  “Would you defy your family to be with me?”

  “I would defy the whole world to be your wife.”

  Wolfrunner’s heart seemed to melt as Danielle placed her small hand in his. “Keep me in your heart, Wolfrunner. Do not allow anyone to tear us apart.”

  He crushed her in his arms, fearing that even now forces were at work to separate them. They still had to make it back to the village. Then he would have to let her go. “If it were possible, I would live here in the mountains with you. Then no one could come between us, Danielle.”

  “I don’t know what my father will say. Even though my mother was an Indian, I don’t know what he would do if he knew we wanted to be husband and wife.”

  “I know, Danielle. He would say, ‘Who is this warrior who reaches above himself to my daughter’, and he would be ri
ght. You do not understand the Blackfoot. There are lines that cannot be crossed over. I am on one side of that line, and you are on the other.”

  “I had the impression that my Uncle Windhawk liked you very much. You always talk of how my aunt likes you. Why would they not wish us to be together?”

  “Liking me has nothing to do with this, Danielle. With you it would be the same as with Sky Dancer. She will marry only a great chief. It is the way of my people.”

  “But if you love me—”

  He silenced her by placing his finger over her lips. “There are some things that go beyond love, Danielle—honor is one of those things. I could never go against the teachings of my people. I will never go against my chief, Windhawk.”

  “Are you so sure that my uncle wouldn’t welcome you as my husband? He will be grateful to you for saving me.”

  “Gratitude is one thing, Danielle, and granting the impossible is another. Do not make me say things that will only hurt you. Accept what I tell you as the truth.”

  Danielle raised her head and gave him a guarded look. It seemed that Wolfrunner didn’t want her. Was he just making excuses to be rid of her? Her pride came to her rescue. She would no longer beg to be his wife.

  “Yes, there is truth in what you say. I would never be happy living in an Indian village. What we had was amusing, nothing more.”

  He grabbed her arms and turned her to face him. “Do not make mock of me. I know you hide your true face because I have hurt you. You will one day know I was right.”

  With every word he spoke, he was rejecting her love. She would not let him see that she was dying on the inside. “How do you know I didn’t show you a false face tonight? Perhaps the true me was the one you first met. I have many men in Philadelphia who would be only too willing to marry me. Why should I care what you think?” The words were spoken softly, and the lie Danielle spoke hurt her deeply.

  Wolfrunner pushed her away. His dark eyes turned hard, and she actually watched him withdraw from her. “As you say, why should you care what I think. Come, it grows late and I need my sleep.” He turned his back and walked off into the night, knowing she would follow.